Question & Answer: In the religious sense: Are faith and doubt incompatible?…

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THOUGH I AM NOT AN EXPERT IN RELIGION BUT I WILL TRY MY LEVEL BEST TO ANSWER THIS .PLS FIND AN ABSTRACT WHICH MIGHT HELP YOU .

The Compatibility of Faith and Doubt in Christianity and Hinduism

Back to the time when nonconformists to the Christian church were punished, Origen, a Christian scholar, said: “If someone from this people wants to be saved, let him come into this house [The Christian Church] so that he may be able to attain his salvation” This quote reflects his orthodoxy and conformism to the Christianity faith. At that time, there was the appearance of other churches that had different beliefs. Gnosticism was one of them. This movement criticizes Christianity and believes that salvation is reached through knowledge rather than faith. Thus, the Christian Church was considering Gnostic sects as heretics, and persecuting them was a way to make all believers follow the same and unique doctrine.
Conflicts of this sort have dominated the history of religions. Religious skepticism has been considered as a sin against God and a threat to the foundation of beliefs by most religions. In Christianity, militating attitudes toward doubt were directed by the fact that ecclesiastic members considered religious claims as being an ultimate and salvific reality and rejected any questioning of their religious faith. Also, doubt was seen as evil because it would take away followers’ faith. Alternatively, doubt began with the ancient Greek philosophers; this is the reason why most people associate doubt with philosophy. They consider the fact that philosophers don’t believe in any religion belief as hostility toward religions. However, doubters should not be seen as enemies to religion because they are rather religious thinkers trying to find their spiritual destiny. Their quest for truth should erase the virtual separation usually made between religion and philosophy.

Doubt is diabolized in the context of religion. In the speeches given by religious authorities such as Imams and Pops, they all reject the idea of questioning and try to protect “the souls” of followers against any idea that could threaten the purity of their faith and make them wonder about its origins. On the other hand, human beings, not only intellectuals, feel the need to reflect on their beliefs to try to make an overall sense. Any aspect of human life can be subject to reflection; religion is no exception. No one can claim that he has never doubted about his religious convictions. Even those who consider themselves with no religion may have moments of doubt about their atheism. So, when trying to understand our religious beliefs, should we take religion for granted because we fear the judgment and the misunderstanding of others? Or should we follow our own sceptic path to find a meaning to our faith?

Now, let us discuss the concepts of faith and doubt in Hinduism. This religion is more elastic, tolerant, and liberal than Christianity in many of its aspects and traditions. One of Hinduism flexible aspects is the path proposed to its believers to reach the truth. For instance, there is Jnana Yoga and Karma Yoga. These two paths of salvation are different and are not the only ones. The first one focuses on knowledge and devotion, whereas the second one is about action. As a consequence, being a plural religion shows Hinduism tolerance and acceptance of doubt. Atman or Brahman is a person seeking eternity by reflection on his relationship with the Universal Self in order to reach the absolute truth and break the reincarnation’s cycle. To find salvation, believers should follow their own way. Thus, this freedom to choose the appropriate way to each individual reflects another aspect of accepting doubt among Hinduism faith.

Another aspect of tolerance toward doubt is illustrated by a passage in Bhagavad Gita, one of the main scriptures of Hinduism, in which the promise of salvation includes even those who have doubt about their faith: “When righteousness is weak and faints and unrighteousness exults in pride, then my Spirit arises on earth.” This is to say that even in case of doubt, an individual should deal with it and find its own way to the truth. Hinduism offers an endless number of ways to reach salvation for it followers and this pluralism is seen as a consideration of the different spiritual needs of people based on their different personalities. It allows individuals to choose their religious path without any constraint and gives them the possibility to change it as many times as it is necessary for them to find the right one. In this religion, people are reincarnated because they failed to reach salvation in their previous lives. This is a way to punish individuals for their mistakes in faith and at the same time give them another chance to break the reincarnation cycle. This is quite different from Christians’ notion of death, final judgement, and eternal Hell or Heaven. In addition, in Hinduism, the quest of the truth may take many lives contrary to monotheistic religions. It is more about being patient and exceeding the limitations of the self than following a predefined dogma and Revelation. Doubt is seen as a way to faith; it pushes individuals to think critically about themselves and their relations with the external world to find the truth.

To conclude, Hinduism and Christianity have clearly different perspectives about doubt. The first one considers questioning as an inescapable step in the process of looking for the truth; whereas the second one is not very tolerant when it comes to questioning its doctrine. This difference doesn’t make any one of these religions better than the other. However, one should not consider that religions that put limitations to doubt as bad ones. One should rather reflect on their own interpretation within what the religion offers as sacred texts and ideologies. Individuals that have beliefs that are quite different from the main religion may to choose to belong to a subgroup. Others may choose a single religion, but find some part of the truth in other ones. So, if the purpose of all religion is to help believers reach the truth, doubt and questioning should not be banished; rather it should be accepted and tolerated as part of the human way of thinking.